I’m a big fan of energy balls and regularly make my Orange Energy Balls or 3 Ingredient Almond Peanut Butter Balls. I also love the flavour of carrot cake. These bites are like mini carrot cakes with a very slight kick from the fresh ginger. Many carrot cake recipes are made with a lot of refined sugar. These carrot cake energy bites are a healthier version, perfectly sweetened without lots of refined sugar.
They are perfect for making for guests coming over or for family or even just for yourself if you want something to indulge your sweet tooth for your work coffee breaks. They will keep in the fridge for at least 5 days.
Energy Bite Ingredients:
To make this recipe you will need the following:
Carrots
Oats
Shredded (dessicated) coconut
Pitted dates
Maple syrup
Pecans
Peanut butter
Vanilla flavouring
Chia seeds
Fresh ginger
Cinnamon
How to Make These Carrot Cake Energy Bites
The principle for making these bites is quite simple and involves breaking everything down into small pieces, and blending everything together and then rolling into balls. I use my Ninja blender for this recipe.
The first step is to submerge the pitted dates in some boiling water for a few minutes to let them soften. (this may not be required if the dates are already soft)
First you peel and grate the carrots into small pieces. I find a blender with the S blade is best for this and chopping the carrots roughly before putting them in the blender also makes the job easier. You may need to do this in two batches.
Place the carrots in the blender and pulse until the carrots are broken down to small pieces. You can then remove the carrots and set them aside in another bowl.
Then add the oats, coconut, pecans, grated ginger, cinnamon and chia seeds to the blender and blend into the texture of a course flour.
Drain the hot water from the dates and cut the dates into small pieces. I find this helps the dates break down quicker once blended. Add the dates to the blender along with the maple syrup, peanut butter and vanilla.
Then add back the carrots to the blender so all of the ingredients are now in the blender (just in case I forgot something)
Pulse the mixture until everything is evenly mixed. This may involve scraping the sides down a few times.
Once the mixture is evenly mixed take a plate and sprinkle some shredded coconut onto the plate.
Take some mixture in your hands and roll into a bite sized ball. Roll the ball in the coconut and set the ball aside onto another container. Repeat this process until all of the mixture is used up, adding another sprinkle of coconut if required.
Store the energy balls in the fridge for up to 5 days (if they make it that long) or eat straight away. I find that placing them in the fridge for 20 minutes before eating gives the carrot cake bites a firmer and better texture.
Recipe Variations
If you want to vary this recipe based on your own tastes or what you have available there are plenty of options:
Coconut – Some people don’t like coconut and this recipe works perfectly well without coconut. You can simply leave it out or try rolling the balls in some cocoa powder instead.
Nuts – you can use different nuts in place of the pecans such as walnuts, cashews or almonds
Peanut butter – you can use a different nut butter instead such as almond butter or cashew butter
Ginger – I love the very slight kick from the ginger, however you can leave the ginger out if you wish
Chia seeds – some recipes use flax seeds instead so you can easily substitute with ground flax seeds
Maple syrup – you can substitute for another sweetener such as agave.
Sweetness – I find this recipe provides a perfect level of sweetness. If you prefer something less sweet you can remove the maple syrup or for extra sweetness you can simply add one or two more dates or some extra maple syrup (or other sweetener)
Check Out Other Healthier Versions of Sweet Treats from The Fit Dish
If energy balls are your cup of tea then you must also check out my 3 Ingredient Almond Peanut Butter Balls, which are really quick and simple or my Orange Energy Balls, which have a wonderful fresh citrus taste.
You should also check out my Oat Banana Bites and Low Calorie Flapjacks
For a delicious brown recipe made with sweet potatoes of all things, check out my 4 Ingredient Sweet Potato Brownies – GF & Vegan
If you have a little more time and want to make something very impressive I recommend trying out my Vegan Caramel Slices.
Carrot Cake Energy Bites
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Add the chopped carrots to a blender and blitz into small pieces. Remove the carrots from the blender.
- Add the dates to boiling water for five minutes to soften them.
- Add the oats, shredded coconut, pecans, chia seeds, grated ginger and cinnamon to the blender and blitz to the consistency of a course wholemeal flour.
- Drain the dates from the water and cut into fine pieces. Add to the blender along with the maple syrup, peanut butter and vanilla.
- Add back the carrots to the blender.
- Blitz everything in the blender until everything is mixed evenly. This may involve scraping down the sides of the blender several times.
- If you wish to roll the bits in shredded coconut, sprinkle some shredded coconut on a plate. Take some mixture in your hand and roll into a ball, then roll the ball in the coconut. Repeat the process until all the mixture is used up.
- If not eating the carrot cake bits immediately, hide in the back of the fridge from any curious children, partner or house mates.
